Fangraphs “Q&A: Bronson Arroyo, Master Craftsman”

Fangraphs posted a nice long Q&A today with the crafty veteran, Bronson Arroyo. There’s a lot of good stuff there, but one of my favorite responses shows why Ryan Hanigan is Arroyo’s personal catcher:

DH: How many signs does Ryan Hanigan use when you’re on the mound?

BA: This is what’s amazing. I probably throw as many variations of pitches as anybody in the game, yet most of my catchers — definitely Hanigan — only put down a one or a two. If he puts a one down to the outer half to a right-handed hitter, I will throw a cutter — a hard one or soft one — I will sink the ball, I’ll throw it straight, or I’ll throw a changeup. All four or five of those pitches he’ll handle without knowing what’s coming.

That makes it easier for us. They can’t pick up our signs if they’re on second base and we don’t have to fight through all these signs to show exactly what’s coming. He doesn’t need to know. He just needs to know if there will be a large variance — he needs to know if it’s going to be a breaking ball. If I throw a changeup, fastball, cutter or sink it, he can handle all the pitches in that realm. We only use two signs.

@CI3J: Hanigan simply needs to go straight from behind the plate to sitting as bench coach or even a hitting instructor. He needs to be on the Reds shortlist a future managers with a decade of his retirement (akin to Mike Scioscia or Kirk Gibson)

@rightsaidred: I wouldn’t rule out a future as a pitching coach for Hanigan, considering how well he works with pitchers. Dave Duncan was also a catcher and Bryan Price also shows that you don’t need to be a big league pitcher to teach pitching. Personally I think Corky Miller is more likely than Ryan Hanigan to become the Reds’ manager some day, but who knows.

@TC: I’m as big a fan of Arroyo as there is but my opinion on the matter depends on whether other guys (Cueto and Bailey in particular) can stay healthy and how prospects (Cingrani, Corcino, Stephenson) develop this year. I think it’s premature to extend him but there might be a clear consensus on the matter next winter. When his contract is up I don’t see him as a guy who’d make things difficult by getting involved in bidding wars with other teams, so I don’t see a big hurry to sign him.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arroyo get extended or leave, whether they need him is just a question of how other guys do.

GREAT read. Arroyo has long been my favorite pitcher to watch (if you don’t count the cuban missile, of course). Love how creative he is. And he’s one of those guys who has the same approach and demeanor no matter what the score/situation. Definitely gonna keep some of his responses in mind when watching him throw this year.

The team I could perhaps see going after Bronson Arroyo next year is the Dodgers, as his style of pitching I think would work well in that park. I’d think Arroyo with his decent stuff there at night would be pretty tough to beat, as he wouldn’t have to worry so much about the gofer ball.